


Next Stop Everywhere

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, College, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-08
Updated: 2012-05-08
Packaged: 2017-11-05 01:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/400474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sam Winchester takes his best friend Cas to watch his brother Dean perform at an open mic night, Cas falls in love with Dean, Dean asks him to run away with him, they fight when Cas says no, and then Cas realizes he’s got nothing to lose but Dean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Next Stop Everywhere

**Author's Note:**

> Previously titled "Never Look Back;" been revamped and being rewritten; a lot of this is the same as it originally was, but for every bit that is the same, there's twice as much that's been reworked. Based on[ this](http://thisisaninactiveblog.tumblr.com/post/21703575413) (which is also mine).

Castiel Andrews remembered the first time he saw Sam Winchester. He was the freakishly tall kid in a room full of people of average height. Sam was in his upper division theology course, though Castiel couldn’t quite figure out why at first. Sam was pre-law, he’d said so himself when the professor insisted the class do silly introductions. Then, in their third week of the course, they were assigned a project. 

Professor Crowley, yet again displaying his love for being an odd professor, decided to pass around a hat containing slips of paper with the names of half the students in the class written on them. Whoever’s name you drew would be your partner. Naturally, Sam Winchester pulled Castiel Andrews, the boy Sam was fairly certain was named for an angel--and admittedly resembled various depictions of them. As could only be expected from there, the two quickly became the best of friends.

Their theology course flew by, the work being remarkably simple for the pair, despite Professor Crowley’s penchant for drifting from the course description and lecturing more on Hell than Heaven and archangels. Once they finished the quarter and were registering for classes for the next, they found a way to organize their schedules so that, even if they didn’t have class together, they could still meet up for coffee or go to the library or grab lunch on the quad. Castiel had never had such a good friend, and Sam only ever spent time with his older brother, so it was a welcome change for them both.

Castiel found that Sam took theology courses to ease the stress from his criminology courses--he was studying to be a criminal defense lawyer--while Sam learned that Castiel similarly took marine science courses to dispell frustrations caused by theology, and that, yes, he was named for the angel of Thursday, but that didn’t mean he was devoutly religious. Just fascinated. Every Wednesday, they’d meet at the library to study, and Friday evenings were spent at whatever sporting event was going on at the time.

Then came a Friday when there was no sporting event. Not wanting to cancel their weekly meetup, Castiel texted Sam on Tuesday and asked if he had any ideas, figuring it was best they figure it out soon.

> Freakishly Tall Kid: Well...you remember I was telling you about my brother?  
> Angel Boy: Dean, right? Works his ass off to put you through school, lives twenty minutes off campus?  
> Freakishly Tall Kid: Yeah. Well in his free time he’s sort of a musician. Plays coffee shops mostly. He’s doing an open mic night this week. We could go to that, I could introduce you two?  
> Angel Boy: Sure. Sounds like fun.  
> Freakishly Tall Kid: Pick you up at seven? He goes on about seven-thirty. We can grab a bite before.  
> Angel Boy: See you then.

The rest of the week went by fairly quickly--it was midterms after all--and suddenly it was Friday. Castiel and Sam were both grateful for their tradition of going out on Friday nights, having had some tough exams this week, and when Sam knocked on the door of Castiel’s apartment, he practically ran to the door, eager to get his mind off everything school related.

“Whoa there, Cas. Coffee shop’s not going anywhere.”

“Just get me out of here,” Cas groaned following Sam downstairs to where he had parked his pickup truck. “I am so tired of thinking about anything relating to school, I don’t even want to be on this campus a second longer.”

“Midterms that bad?”

“You have no idea. Remind me again why I’m majoring in theology with a minor in marine science?”

“Because you’re a freak.”

Castiel glared at Sam and stuck out his tongue comically, which earned him a laugh. “Don’t worry, Cas, we’re freaks together. Don’t forget, you’re talking to a pre-law who’s secretly taking a minor in theology. Clearly we’re both quick to torture ourselves.”

They climbed into the truck and Sam sped off campus, pulling into a parking lot near downtown. He quickly fed the meter several hours worth of change and tilted his head, signaling Cas to follow him. They walked a couple of blocks before coming to a small cafe called Southside Coffee Company--a locally owned place--and went inside. There was a fairly decent sized crowd there to listen to the free music and enjoy a cup of coffee, but there was a tiny table near the back with a little “RESERVED” sign on it, crudely written in red ink.

Sam picked up the piece of paper, flipped it over, laughed, and sat down, motioning to Castiel to join him.

“I wasn’t aware you could reserve tables in coffee shops,” Castiel observed.

“Dean,” Sam explained. “He left a note on the back even, look.”

**_Heya Sammy. Hope you got here early. Also hope your friend is ready to totally get his mind blown by my killer vocals. PS: He better be hot or I don’t get why you’re introducing me._ **

Castiel flushed pink and forced a laugh. He’d never told Sam he was gay--it’d never come up and had really never seemed an issue--yet he was already being hit on by someone he’d never met and who theoretically didn’t know much about him.

“That’s not why you brought me tonight is it? To set me up with your brother?”

Sam guffawed. “Hell no. I just thought it’d be a cool thing to do. In fact, don’t fall in love with my brother, okay? I have to deal with him enough but if he starts dating my best friend, I might actually hit him some time.”

Castiel grinned. “What about you, does Dean ever try to set you up on dates?”

“He tried once and that earned him a beer bottle glued to his hand,” Sam said with a wicked grin. “But nah, I’m sort of dating someone. Her name is Jessica Moore.”

“Oh, I know her! She’s in one of my marine science courses.”

“Yeah, that’s her major. She’s...”

“She’s great, Sam. I’d love to meet her, y’know, officially some time. Invite her to study with us, she can help me with my final project.”

“I’ll do that,” Sam replied, smiling faintly. “Oh, look, Dean’s coming on.”

Cas looked up and saw a man’s back, bent over and fiddling with some wires before he turned to Sam to ask, “What kind of music does he sing? His own, or covers?”

“Mostly covers. He does write music but he’s too afraid to debut it just yet, or so he says.”

“Hm. Well I look forward to it nonetheless.”

They stopped talking then, partly out of courtesy and partly because, even if he wanted to, Castiel wasn’t sure he could find any words. Dean Winchester had turned around and he was nothing short of beautiful. He seemed to glow under the spotlight, his eyes glimmering a soft sort of gold in the center of their green irises. He pulled a stool up to the mic and lifted his guitar onto his lap, leaning forward to speak.

“Hey, everyone. Good to see you, hope you enjoy the sound tonight. This one’s called Someday by a little ol’ guy called Steve Earle.”

He fiddled with his guitar strings softly before picking up a tune, singing of small towns, dead-end jobs, successful and intelligent brothers, and one day taking his car out on the road and driving until he has no desire to look over his shoulder. Castiel grinned through the whole thing, amazed at Dean’s voice and the soft gruffness to it. It was as if you could feel his voice coursing through you, and it was warm and comforting, like a mug of hot chocolate.

He finished the song and there was a generous smattering of applause. Castiel found himself clapping more enthusiastically than he’d initially intended, and he found he couldn’t tear his eyes from Dean’s face as he said to Sam, “He’s really good.”

It was at that moment that Dean’s eyes met his, and a smile appeared on his face. He winked almost imperceptibly, and lifted his hand to end the applause. “Thank you. This next one’s dedicated to anyone in the room with blue eyes.”

He maintained his eye contact with Castiel, something that was not lost on Sam. Though he should be embarrassed at being singled out, it seemed the only embarrrassment Castiel could muster was a light flush to his face as he grinned and slightly swayed along with the song.

This time, Dean stood up when his song ended, bowing slightly. “Thanks, folks. I’m gonna let a few more people play, but if there’s time at the end, I’ll be back up here.”  
He packed up his guitar in its case, leaving it to the side of the small stage as he made his way toward Sam and Castiel near the door. Sam stood and gave his brother a tight hug, saying softly, “Just as fantastic as always,” to which Dean replied, “You know it, Sammy.”

They separated and Dean turned toward Castiel, a glint in his eye. “All right, Sammy, who’s Mr. Hot Stuff?”

Sam groaned. “Dean this is Castiel, aka my best friend, aka  off limits don’t even think about it. "

“Tell ya what, Sammy, you get one kind of off limits. Physical or mental. Take your pick.”

“Physical, God, please, don’t even.”

Castiel was simply grinning at their exchange, mildly intrigued by their dynamic. It reminded him of how his older brother Gabriel was with his sister Anna. Realizing he hadn’t said a word yet, he stuck out his hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Castiel, but you can just call me Cas.”

Dean gladly took his hand, winking more noticably this time. “Nice to meet you, Cas. Did you like the song?”

“Which one?”

“Well the one I sang for you, of course. Even from up there under the lights I could see how blue your eyes are.”

Sam groaned again, letting his head fall against his arms on the table and Castiel flushed darker this time, finding words were escaping him yet again.

“Easy, tiger, it was just an observation," Dean said, patting Sam's head before turning his attention back to Castiel and sitting down next to him. "Anyway, I like to serenade at least one customer every week. Used to be Sammy, but your little sports tradition took over that one, so I’ve been picking random people. ‘Course, it’s pretty damn hard to look over you. I mean, compared to everyone here, you practically look like an angel.”

Castiel laughed at that quite enthusiastically, and when Dean quirked an eyebrow at him, he caught his breath and said, “It’s just funny, I’m actually named for an angel.”

“You don’t say,” Dean said, voice low and far more gravelly than Castiel had imagined it could go. Not that he was imagining it in any particular capacity or anything.

“Dean, please, please, can you not sexualize my best friend  while I’m sitting right here? ” Sam begged, his voice muffled behind his arms where his head still lay.

“Well, Cas and I could always get out of here,” Dean said tossing a wink to Cas, as if to say  _Let’s fuck with him just a little bit, shall we?_

“Dean.” Sam lifted his head and gave Dean a look, one that Castiel once jokingly referred to as his bitch face.

“Sammy.” Dean made a face right back, only his was clearly in jest.

Feeling he ought to stop them both before either of them got ahead of themselves, Castiel chimed in. “Actually, I have a fairly important and lengthy essay I need to begin tomorrow morning, I should really get home. Sam, would you mind driving me back to campus?”

“Not at all.” Sam leapt to his feet, grabbing his bookbag off the floor and clapping Dean’s shoulder before heading toward the door.

“It was nice meeting you, Dean. You’re very talented.” Castiel stuck his hand out again, figuring they were not quite on hugging terms yet.

Dean quickly grabbed Castiel’s hand, grinning at him. “Nice meeting you too, Cas. Hopefully I’ll get to serenade you again sometime.”

“Perhaps.” Dean had still not let go of his hand, but Cas found he didn’t mind, and just kept a small smile on his face matching the coy smirk on Dean’s.

Sam turned and saw their linked hands and groaned again. “Oh God, can we just leave, please?”

Castiel’s smile turned into a wide one, and feeling adventurous, he winked at Dean before letting go of his hand and turning toward Sam. “After you, Sam.” He looked over his shoulder just as he reached the door, a small blush dusting his cheeks again. “Goodbye, Dean.”

“Later, Blue Eyes.”

As soon as they were safely shut in Sam’s truck, he turned to Cas. “Dude, why did you have to egg him on?”

Castiel simply shrugged as he buckled himself in. “Believe it or not, I’m actually not often on the receiving end of flirtations. I enjoyed your brother’s attentions, however smarmy. Besides, he was friendly. And even you can’t say he’s ugly by any standards.”

Sam sighed heavily, understanding what Cas was saying, and started the engine, pulling out of the parking lot and heading toward the campus. “Okay, fair enough, but please, try your hardest to not date him.”

“I promise.”

Cas grinned, partly to Sam and partly to himself. He never promised anything about trying not to fall for his best friends brother. Just not to date him. Nobody ever said the two were mutually inclusive.

* * *

Castiel normally silenced his phone when he was in his littoral zone class, but today they were visiting actual littoral zones, so he had it on vibrate in his pocket. He wasn't expecting any texts, as he'd informed Sam he'd have to miss their routine study session, so he was quite shocked when his phone kept vibrating. His hands were currently full of surf grass, so he counted the messages as they came in, four, five, six. When he finished collecting the duncecap limpet he was searching for, he dried his hands and pulled out his phone to see who was trying to get his attention so frantically.

> Unknown Number: Hey there, Blue Eyes.  
> Unknown Number: That's what I put you in my phone as.  
> Unknown Number: Did you know Sam has you in his as "Angel Boy?"  
> Unknown Number: And *I* was in trouble for hitting on you.  
> Unknown Number: Oh, this is Dean, by the way.  
> Unknown Number: You're not ignoring me, are you, Blue Eyes?

Castiel began reading with a confused frown which quickly turned to a shy grin, and finally, a flushed face. He noticed Jessica watching him, a far too interested look on her face, so he turned his back to her and quickly put Dean in his contacts list--under Music Man--tapping out a response.

> Blue Eyes: Not ignoring you, no. On a field trip, visiting littoral zones. Hands were a little messy. How'd you get my number anyway?  
> Music Man: Sam's phone. He leaves it unguarded when he's in the shower >:)  
> Blue Eyes: Sneaky. But didn't you promise him not to sexualize me?  
> Music Man: When he's around. But he's not around now, is he? Plus, I never said anything about not texting you.  
> Blue Eyes: True.  
> Music Man: Definitely didn't say anything about not asking you out, either.  
> Blue Eyes: Ah, but I did promise Sam I would do my best to not date you.  
> Music Man: What if we didn't call it a date?  
> Blue Eyes: I'm listening.  
> Music Man: What are you working on right now?  
> Blue Eyes: Tide pools. Collecting samples and labeling them later.  
> Music Man: Okay. Text me when you're done at the tide pools, and I'll meet you at the cafe. Help you label. That's definitely not a date, right?  
> Blue Eyes: I guess not.  
> Music Man: Cool. See you later, Blue Eyes.

Castiel found himself grinning his way through the rest of his work, absently humming a tune he couldn't place, which he would soon realize was the first song Dean had sung at the open mic night. Naturally, this only caused Castiel to grin more. After the texting session with Dean, his luck seemed to improve, and he finished collecting his samples well before anyone else in the class.

He quickly said goodbye to Jessica, giving her a swift hug that she only tentatively returned, a look of interest still on her face, and jogged up the hill back to his car. After unloading his things into the backseat, he peeled out of the parking lot and sped toward the campus, hoping to have time to change before meeting up with Dean. But when he got to his dorm, Sam was there waiting for him.

"Hey, Cas!" He held up the six pack of beers in his left hand and the bag of snacks in his right. "Figured you'd be done pretty soon, so I thought I'd wait for you to get home so I could help you out with your labeling stuff. Didn't think you'd be this quick though! I was about to go on the hunt for your spare key."

Cas fought against every muscle in his face to keep from frowning, and against even more of them to keep from groaning audibly. "Hey, Sam. Yeah, got lucky I guess. You don't have to help me if you don't want to, Sam. I'm sure you have plenty of work of your own to do," he managed to say cheerily as he opened the front door.  
"Nah, turns out when you're not there criticizing my handwriting I get a lot more done. It's lonelier though, so I thought I'd help you."

"That's really nice of you, Sam, but I'm exhausted. I might just take a nap."

"Aw, come on, man. At least have one beer with me. We can just get it all started so it won't seem like you have quite so much to do."

"Fair enough." Cas put all of his things on the kitchen table, making sure to empty his pockets before flicking on a few lights and heading to his room. "I'm just going to go change into something that doesn't reek of brine, go ahead and make yourself comfortable. You know where everything’s at," he called over his shoulder before closing his door. When he came out, he found Sam holding his cell phone, frowning at the screen.

"Uh, Sam?"

Sam glanced up at Cas quickly before asking, "Who's 'Music Man?'” Recognition filled his face and he groaned. “Oh god, please tell me that's not my brother."

"It's...not your brother?"

Sam let out a whine. "You pr _ooooo_ mised, Cas." 

Cas lifted a finger as he reached for his phone. "Promised to not date him. Texting does not equal dating. If it did, you and I would be dating."

"You almost back to town? I'm itchin' for some coffee and I can't wait to talk to you one on one," Sam quoted from the latest text to buzz into Cas's phone. "That sounds like a date to me."

"Actually," Cas said coolly, taking his phone away from his best friend, "He offered to help me with the labeling. Which is why I was so reluctant to let you help, if you must know."

Sam sighed heavily, realizing he was overreacting, and even if he wasn’t it’s not his place. "Fine. I can't stop you dating him, clearly. And I guess it is my fault for introducing you two. Just...a couple of things, okay?” Castiel nodded and Sam continued. 

“One: don't let him move things faster than you're ready for. He's notorious for jumping the gun on a lot of things, especially when he gets excited. Two: if he says he loves you, he definitely means it. He doesn't do that halfway, not after our childhood, which, okay 2a: don’t mention our childhood unless he brings it up somehow. And three: no. talking. about. your. time. with. him. when. you're. with. me. Unless you want me to projectile vomit on you, I don't ever want any details, ever.  Clear?"

Castiel grinned. "Crystal. Now get the hell out of my apartment so I can go meet your brother for our coffee date."

Sam lifted a hand to cover his face, a grimace playing across it as he mumbled, "What have I done?"

"Dug your own grave," Cas said back to him, his voice dripping with joy and a hint of taunting. He darted toward the table, grabbing his bags of stuff and his car keys, using his elbow to kill the kitchen light. "Go, go, get out. We're leaving now Sam, this is us leaving my apartment. Good boy. Now you go home and try not to think of the fact that I'll probably have my tongue down your brother's throat later."

Sam smacked Cas on the back of the head at that, screaming, "GROSS! DUDE! WHAT DID WE JUST AGREE ON?"

Castiel laughed and shrugged, accepting the slap gracefully. "We agreed on no details about when I'm with your brother. Since I haven't actually been with him yet, I figured this was fair game. It was definitely worth your reaction, that's for sure."

"Whatever, man. I'll see you tomorrow for studying. We still on for Friday night for the soccer game?"

"Yep, yep, see you then. Bye Sam!"

Sam stomped away to his truck, grumbling under his breath while furiously tapping out a text to Dean about  "How could you break our promise?" , while Cas happily tapped one out to Dean as well, letting him know he was done and headed to the coffee shop now and,  "I'll see you there, Music Man."

* * *

The drive to the coffee shop was a short one, yet somehow it seemed to stretch on for ages, though that was probably due to how eager he actually was to spend time with Dean one-on-one. He parked in the parking lot he and Sam had parked in and hopped out to feed the meter before cautiously grabbing all of his bags and making sure nothing was in danger of falling.

He headed into the coffee shop, this time picking a table upstairs in a secluded alcove, and texting Dean to let him know he was up there. He cautiously unpacked his jars and the masking tape he'd brought for the labels and decided he may as well get started. Biting the cap off the Sharpie in his hand, he gripped the jar carefully, placed a piece of tape across it, and scrawled Supralittoral: Periwinkle.

He had gotten through five of his thirty jars when Dean clambered up the stairs, two cups in his hands. "Wasn't sure how you take your coffee so I just made it like mine. Two creams and four sugars. Hope that's not too sweet for you."

Castiel grinned, accepting the cup of coffee and the possible double meaning behind Dean’s phrasing. "I'm sure it's fine, thank you Dean." He put the cup down and looked at Dean as if he wasn't sure if they should shake hands or hug, so Dean, coy as ever, grabbed Castiel's hand and kissed his knuckles gently before taking the seat next to him.

"So, tide pools. You a marine science major like Sammy's girlfriend?"

"No, I'm actually a theology major. Marine science is my minor. Just two things I'm interested in, but believe it or not, theology tends to lead to a more stable career than marine science." Castiel took a sip of the coffee Dean'd brought him and grinned, discovering he enjoyed the perfect balance Dean had seemed to create with the bitter and the sweet. "You're a strange one, Dean Winchester. First you can tell my eye color from across a crowded room--and you sing my favorite Elton John song, no less--and now you’ve completely changed my mind about coffee with cream and sugar being the devil."

Dean grinned and Castiel found himself transfixed by the tiny crinkles at the corners of his eyes. "Lucky guess on the coffee. Figured you could use a little something sweet in your life,” he said, winking. “But seriously, your eyes are another story, definitely something outta this world, Cas. I've never seen eyes so blue, and I think even if I see some like that again one day, they won't even hold a candle to yours. Yours tell a story."

Castiel ducked his head, pretending to go back to his work, rotating the jar in his hand as if he was trying to remember what was in it. "And what story is that?"  
Dean grabbed Castiel's wrist, stopping him turning the jar, his thumb absently tracing a soft pattern on Cas’s hand. "An incredibly sad one. And I think that's why I was so interested in you right away. Eyes that beautiful should never have so much heartache swimming in them."

Castiel flushed, and turned his head back up to Dean. "Well, maybe you'll bring a little light back into them.” It was Dean’s turn to flush this time, his hand still gripping Cas’s wrist until Cas slipped loose, pausing to squeeze Dean’s hand gently befoore grabbing his pen off the table. “Now. You said you wanted to help me label? Be honest, do you know anything about tide pools?"

If it were possible, Dean flushed darker red than the pen in Castiel’s hand. "I know they're at the beach?"

Castiel laughed, nodding. "I figured as much. Don't worry, it's actually really simple. I'll just have you pre-make the labels with the zones on them, and then I'll label whatever the creature is."

"Sounds simple enough."

"Okay, I need you to make me five that say 'supralittoral,' ten that say 'eulittoral' and ten that say 'sublittoral.' Can you spell it or should I spell it for you? And before you make some remark about being pretty but not stupid, I'm genuinely asking if you know how to spell them, because it took me like, three weeks to remember it correctly."

Dean grinned, leaning forward. "So you think I'm pretty?"

"Of all the things to take out of everything I just said, you hear the word 'pretty' the loudest," Cas said with a soft laugh. "In all fairness, yeah. But are you going to just sit there looking pretty, or are you actually going to help me?"

"Five supra, ten eu, ten sub. Got it." Dean grabbed the tape and the Sharpie, and quickly started scrawling out the labels. Castiel watched in fascination, smiling faintly when he saw that Dean did indeed know how to spell the names of the zones. He was so transfixed by Dean's hands and the obvious wear-and-tear upon them that he didn't notice Dean glance at him and grin.

"Done! Now what?"

Cas started, shaken from his stupor. "Now I stick them on their proper jars and put what identifying creature or plant is in said jar. Shouldn't take too long."

Dean put on a mocked pout. "You that eager to get away from me?"

"More that I'm that eager to be able to focus on you and not my work,” Cas said, his face turning pink again.

"And Sam thought I was the flirtatious one. You could give me a run for my money, Cas."

Castiel just grinned and set to work. He finished the last jar, scrawling a quick surf grass on the label and put it in the bag with the others, turning to Dean. "So. Now that my work is done...I'm assuming Sam sent you an angry text message this afternoon?"

Dean barked out a laugh, a sort of easy relaxation crossing his face at the mention of his brother. "Yeah, something about betrayal, breaking a deal, all that nonsense. I tried to tell him it wasn't a date, but he wouldn't listen. How'd he find out anyway?"

"I accidentally left my phone unguarded right when you chose to send another flurry of messages. He saw that they were from 'Music Man' and put the pieces together. He's not genuinely upset, I don't think. He seems more grossed out than anything, but that's more than understandable. He even gave me a few pointers on dating you, so..."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, sounds like Sam. Personally, I think he was being a drama queen about the whole thing. I mean, he is the one who introduced us. Though to be fair, I wasn't even sure you swung my way. He never said."

"Probably because I never said. I try to not draw attention to my sexuality, and with Sam it hardly seemed a front-burner topic."

Dean frowned slightly. "Your eyes just got sad again. I'm guessing that's a big part of the story I keep seeing in them, isn't it?"

Castiel nodded, afraid to speak, worried his voice would betray him and Dean would begin pestering him with questions. Instead, he found that Dean had one more surprise up his sleeve, choosing to brush the topic aside.

"Well, we'll talk about that when it becomes relevant, okay? No rush. Your story is your own and you can tell it whenever you're ready."

Cas smiled widely. "And here Sam was warning me you like to jump the gun."

This earned quite a bit of laughter, Dean doubling over and dramatically wiping a tear from his eye. "Guy walks in on you during one one-night-stand, never let's you live it down."

Hoping to come across as joking and not as nervous as he actually was, Cas looked down and asked, "I'm not a one-night-stand, am I?"

Dean quickly stopped laughing, his face becoming very serious. "Never. I could never look at you that way. Hell, I hardly know you, but I look at you and I see the whole package."

A small grin played across his face and he took Dean's hand in his, turning his face back up to look at Dean. "Well, I guess we'll find out, won't we? For the record, I see a lot when I look at you too, and I don’t just mean regarding us. If my eyes tell a story, yours are a series. Mostly good stuff though. Maybe little bit of darkness on the edges, but nothing too bad.” Dean grinned back at him, the crinkles reappearing at the corners of his eyes. “Now, the question of the hour: my place, or yours?"

Dean’s eyebrows raised momentarily, but he didn’t let his shock play for too long, quickly replacing it with excitement. "Yours, definitely. Sam's going to be waiting at mine, I can feel it."

Never letting go of each others' hands, they stood, Cas stooping to grab his bag, and headed to the parking lot. Dean had walked to the coffee shop, living not too far from it, so they climbed into Castiel's car and drove back toward the campus. Cas found himself grinning as he remembered telling Sam he was simply meeting Dean for coffee, but really? When was it ever just coffee?

* * *

The journey back to Cas’s dorm felt shorter than it ever had, the car ride filled with laughter and jokes and far too many innuendos than should be possible for a seven minute drive. The second they reached the door to the apartment, Dean was pressed against Castiel, making quick work of unbuttoning the coat he was wearing, his mouth moving down the long neck he’d been daydreaming about all afternoon. Cas whimpered something about needing to actually open the door sometime, and Dean pulled away just long enough to let him do so.

The instant they were inside, Dean had Castiel backed up against the door, slipping his coat off his shoulders before tossing aside his own jacket. Cas was practically writhing beneath him, and truth be told, Dean was just getting started. Of course, it doesn’t do to assume, and so naturally Dean was caught way off guard when Cas effortlessly flipped them around so Dean was the one pressed to the front door.

A gasp escaped Dean’s lips as Cas deftly undid the button on his jeans, slipping his hand in as his mouth found Dean’s again. There was a definite smirk on Cas’s mouth where it moved against Dean’s, and Dean grinned into it, before pulling Cas’s hand out of his pants, lifting him up and making his way to the bedroom Cas gestured toward at the end of the hall, practically throwing Castiel onto the bed before climbing on top of him and slowly lowering hismelf down, pressing their mouths together again.

* * *

Cas had pinned Dean Winchester for a lot of things--a total tomcat in the bed being one of the definitely accurate things--but a cuddler was not one of them. So when they found themselves breathless and boneless, he was a bit shocked at how Dean rolled off him and pulled him in close, slipping an arm under and around his shoulders. He grinned, laying his head on Dean’s toned chest, fingers tracing the tattoo on his pectoral that he’d paid quite a lot of attention to just fifteen minutes prior.

“Can I ask about the tattoo?” he murmured, tilting his head up to look at Dean through his eyelashes.

“Mhm. It’s a family thing, I guess. Our dad had one, wouldn’t ever say what it was, but it was the only ink on his entire body and we could tell it meant a lot to him--he got it right after our mom died. So when he died, I got one to match. Sort of a way to remember him.”

Cas frowned slightly at the mention of both of Dean’s parents being dead--he and Sam never talked about their family aside from Castiel’s constant grumbling about Gabriel calling him at 2 am for no reason other than to laugh at how groggy he sounded. He decided against prying, remembering that Sam said not to talk too much about their childhood, and instead settled for, “It’s certainly a fascinating design. But you know, I could tell you what it is if you like.”

Dean twitched, as if he was about to sit up at that. “What do you mean?”

Castiel sighed lightly. “Well, I told you I’m a theology major. This symbol is an old pagan protection sigil. It’s meant to ward off bad spirits and malicious forces so your life can only have those of pure heart around. I’m not presuming to know anything about your family, but my guess is your father got the tattoo as a way of telling the darkness that undoubtedly surrounded him after your mother’s passing that it wasn’t welcome.”

Dean was silent for a while, and Cas worried he’d overstepped his bounds, until the arm that was around him tightened and a gentle kiss was pressed to the top of his head. Deciding against speaking further, Castiel simply burrowed closer to Dean, his fingers still gently tracing the sun with the pentagram in the center.

They lay together in content silence for almost an hour before each of them drifted off to a gentle sleep, never once parting or pulling away even an inch. When they each woke hours later, it was from a restful place full of pleasant dreams, and it was, in fact, so restful, they both pretended to still be sleeping for a few minutes longer, dreading the inevitable parting of the ways.

Eventually, Castiel caught sight of the time and let out a groan. “Dean, it’s nearly eleven, I have class in two hours, not to mention my routine study meetup with Sam in about an hour. I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to cut the cuddling short.”

Dean chuckled. “Cut it short? Dude, if this is cutting it short I might have to kidnap you for a weekend sometime.”

Castiel shivered at that, imagining all the implications of a weekend alone with Dean. He sat up, grinning down at Dean, deciding he liked seeing him there beneath him, and leaned over to kiss him softly. “I might just let you do that,” he whispered against his lips.

Dean found himself grinning into the gentle kiss, his hands reaching up to cup Castiel’s face, thumbs gently stroking along his jawline. “I’ll put you on the calendar then,” he said as they pulled apart.

Cas smiled wider, before climbing out of bed carefully and heading toward the bathroom. “I’ve got to hop in the shower, you can either join me and we can maybe have time to grab something to eat, or you’re free to go home and shower there. It’s not as if I don’t have your number,” he called out before starting up the water.

“As tempting as that offer is, babe, I’ve got some things to take care of today too,” Dean said, his voice growing louder as he came into the bathroom. “But you’re damn stupid if you think I’m leaving without a goodbye kiss.”

Castiel grinned for what felt like the millionth time in the past 24 hours, and walked to where Dean was leaning against the door jamb, raising himself slightly on his tippy toes to close the distance between his face and Dean’s, pressing their mouths together gently, the kiss far too sweet in comparison to the filthy things their mouths were doing the previous night. With that memory seared into his mind, his arms snaked around Dean’s shoulders nearly of their own accord until they both finally needed air. 

They pulled apart gently and Dean reached up, to push a wild lock of hair behind Castiel’s ear.

“Text me if you get bored or something, we can plan our next date,” Cas said with a tiny, shy smile.

“You got it, Cas.” Dean pressed one more chaste kiss to Castiel’s lips before walking away. “I’ll see you around, Blue Eyes.”


End file.
